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Hi, everyone!

Gadreel is a character from my Fantasy Angels Series. In The Fall of Lilith she and Lilith were frenemies, they were “friendly” despite a fundamental dislike for each other, in Son of the Serpent she and Dracúl were friends with “benefits” and in the 3rd installment of my Fantasy Angels Series, Gadreel comes into her own as the heroine in the book.

“There was no sun in Floraison to torture us. We had brillantes, a time of divine light which was like the warmth of God’s smile. Here on earth, we have to endure days of glaring, fiery light which stings our bodies and perturbs our minds. In Floraison, we had nightglows when light dimmed to a soft glow, which reminded us that God was still near. Here, we have night––the absence of light when we are left on our own. I miss our home.”

~ Gadreel (exiled on Earth)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I know Valentine’s Day is around the corner and most people are writing about lovers and romantic interludes, but I thought I’d dedicate this post to the kind of love that only mothers can give.

When Gadreel gave birth to twin girls she was shocked to discover that instead of legs they had the lower half of fish. Of course, their father was Dagon, a fallen angel that lost his wings on the way down and plummeted into the narrow sea (Mediterranean), where he was transformed into a merman. For some reason, Gadreel imagined herself giving birth to a being that would look as she and Dagon did in Floraison (Heaven) in their angelic forms. That wasn’t the case and she was horrified and disappointed–– at first––until she truly looked at them and fell in love at first sight.

Excerpt : Goodbye, Dracul

“Have you ceased to believe in our cause?” Satan raised his eyebrows.

Gadreel rose to her feet and moved about, inspecting her fingernails. “I––I thought I would stay behind with the little prince.” She shifted her weight to the balls of her feet.

“Very well, but be certain this time he remains in the cave,” Satan said in a somber tone.

“I shall take good care of him.” She scratched her nose as she said that and avoided his eyes.

With a deep sigh, Satan hurried to join the others. As soon as he was gone, Gadreel planned her escape.

“Dracul, you are an intelligent little being, thus, I shall not fret to leave you on your own.” She held on to his shoulders.

“Why must you leave me?” Dracul’s eyes were large and doleful.

She passed her hand over his hairless head. “This may be difficult for you to understand but unlike Lilith, Satan and Samael, I yet wish to return to God’s good graces, and I am unable to obtain pleasure from destroying other beings. I am determined to never again allow Lilith to manipulate me into situations that make me feel unworthy of God’s love. There is good in you, Dracúl. Remember that. Hold on to it despite what you see happening around you.” She kissed the top of his head. “Besides, I, too, have little ones like you. I miss them. I need to find them, for it has been too long since I have held them in my arms.”

“I shall go with you and help you find them.”

She kissed him again. “No, Dracul. If you follow me, I shall be punished. You must vow to stay in the cave until your father and mother return. Stay, I implore you. Otherwise my life shall be forfeit.”

Dracul nodded, wearing a frown. “I shall stay in the cave until my father returns.”

When his words of promise reached her ears, she took flight. She flew at full speed toward the beach where she last saw Dagon and her little mermaids.

Dracúl followed her with his eyes until he could no longer see her. He lowered his head and sniffed, holding back tears.

When the others returned, they found him alone entertaining himself with a bat pup he found hanging upside down in the cave.

“Where is Gadreel?” Lilith scowled as she looked about the cave.

“She fled,” Dracul said. “But she made me promise to remain in the cave until you and my father returned.”

“What do you mean, she fled?” Lilith’s face flushed a raging red.

“She said she needed to find her little ones––like me.” Dracúl looked as innocent as a daisy. His pet bat now hung from one of his horns and he giggled.

“And you allowed her to leave?” Lilith yelled, making him jump.

“Enough! Do not yell at our son! He is an innocent,” Satan said. “It is not his doing that Gadreel abandoned us.”

Excerpt: Gadreel’s Song

Gadreel flew in darkness and in light, only stopping to eat and rest. She did not fear Lilith’s certain retaliation for her desertion. Her mind was focused: she wished to reunite with her little mermaids. She was liberated, no longer dominated by Lilith, whose only thought was to seek revenge on God.

After some time, she arrived at the beach where Fornues was laid to rest, and where she last saw Dagon and her daughters. She tiptoed to the edge of the water and stared out to sea. The azure, never-ending ocean was calm and untroubled. It sparkled under the sun, but she saw no sign of Dagon or her children.

Gadreel entered the water. She waded to a nearby flat rock jutting from the ocean. She sat on its surface with folded legs. The ocean breeze played with her curly hair, the color of desert sand in the late afternoon sunlight. Once comfortable, she gazed across the ocean once more certain somewhere underneath the surface her little mermaids swam with their father. She began to sing:

Keenly, I watch my infants’ eyes,

dreading the stares, and soft sighs,

I’m blinded by what they surmise.

They mesmerize; they mesmerize.

Extraordinary off-springs,

Like new exotic samplings,

Shown with Dagon’s unique offerings,

They’re my blessings; They’re my blessings

Soon there dawned an epiphany;

Daughters of our love’s symphony,

Scintillas of our harmony.

True synchrony! True synchrony!

We shared moments evanescent,

When they flourished luminescent.

Now where fishes float florescent,

Is their descent, is their descent.

My heart was lilt in their gaze,

Wilts now in their absence and blaze

Deprived of their love, is to faze

As in a daze, as in a daze.

Emptiness is all fills my core.

My soul burns with hunger once more.

My daughters, I long to adore,

Come to the shore! Come to the shore!

I fear I shall starve, o’er my babes,

Lest their dulcet gaze meet my face.

With time, I’ll be part of this place,

Singing their praise! Singing their praise!

Oh, bring back my mermaids, love-charm!

Come now, or I’ll make loud alarm,

Until my last breath suffers harm!

Cold rocks, no warmth! Cold rocks, no warmth!

◊

**I believe the above poetry form is called a Ballad. If I’m wrong, please let me know.

**It’s the first challenge of the month which means poets get to choose their own words. I chose the words, Distinct and Yearn

*The catch is that we can only use the synonyms to these words in our poems.

Hi Soooz! Thank you! Several readers have asked me if Gadreel was going to have her own installment. She’s been a popular character from the start. I’m excited about Gadreel’s book. I think Valentine’s Day represents all manner of love. Thanks again, my friend! ❤ xo

Hi John! I get so overwhelmed in the beginning of the process. I’m writing the first draft right now which is the hardest for me. Later, things tend to unfold and smooth out but right now I’m going nuts. :p

I’m thrilled that you’re excited, Denise! Thank you. She’s the mother of the mermaid species and from there sirens evolved as well. Luring her daughters to come to her with a song seemed a natural thing for her to do. 😉 ❤

Vashti, you know I love your poetry and your writing. Here is a list of what options are available for my syllabic poetry challenge: #Haiku, #Senryu, #Haiga, #Tanka, #micropoetry, #poetry, #5lines, #Haibun, #Prose, #CinquainPoetry, #Etheree, #Nonet, and #Shadorma. You are way over our heads (LOL) in writing a ballad. I know there is some counting of syllables, but there is the rhyming thing to deal with too, in the scheme a, b, c, b. This is so lovely. You should enter some poetry contests and/or send this off for acceptance in a journal. Very impressive. ❤

Hi Colleen! I’m aware that Ballads are not in your list of poetry styles––sorry about that. This poem is actually in my book “The Fall of Lilith” and since I was featuring Gadreel this week, I thought I should share it. I’ll add a tanka or haiku along next time. Thank you very much for the suggestions. I appreciate you!
❤ xo

Vashti, superb writing and you are so incredibly imaginative. Your characters come vividly to life … this is unlike anything I usually read but was hooked! Oh, the song is terrific and I think ballad is the right word for it … now you just need it set to music so you can play that as part of your promotion!

Hi Annika! What a wonderful comment! Thank you very much. You know, my niece had the same idea when she read the poem in the book. It is a lovely idea and I’m going to have to see how I can make that happen. Thanks again and have a terrific start to the week. ❤ xo

So good to read about your new book and the final of the 3. I love your poems, Vashti.

I just finished reading your book and wrote a book review. It’s on Amazon and Goodreads. I’ll post it on social media and make a post in a couple days, after I finished the speculative fiction for Diana.

I waited the posting on Amazon before I sent you the message. This time they posted it within a couple hours.

Good for you started writing your 3rd book. I have to start writing my next book also when I come back from visiting my granddaughter beginning March. I have many routine doctors appointments and tests this month. ❤ xox

I’m going to run a Advertising campaign for 7 days free download on Amazon. I don’t know if I should do it simultaneously so that people visiting the tour will get something for free and I don’t have to do it separately, because I’ll post the free download on my blog and the social media also. ❤
I got the idea from Stevie Turner. ❤

I think I’ll do a free promo separate from the blog tour, because I want to access the result. 🙂

I’ll do a giveaway for the tour.

I eventually figure out the the 4WillsPublishing is a separate website than the $RRBC. So I finally filled out the application for #RRBC, signed up for hosting some blog tours. That’s the confusing part – have related activities but separate website and different staff. 🙂

I also emailed Marlena my book review and the posting on Amazon. I’ll eventually review one of the books listed as books of the month. 🙂

Hi Vashti, I was too overwhelmed with things when I asked you about the book catalog for #RRBC. They haven’t contacted me yet about my membership. I wanted to post the book review of your book as one of the #RRBC.

Thank you, Vashti. I emailed Nonnie yesterday and haven’t heard from her. This morning I emailed Eric who is the director of membership. Then just now I sent in the information Nonnie asked to do the blog tour and at the end I asked about my membership also, because I don’t have a password to get into the catalog. I signed up when Nonnie was gone and nobody has contacted me.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

[…] Gadreel's Song, #Ballad (Promotional Poem for her Book)Keenly, I watch my infants’ eyes,dreading the stares, and soft sighs,I’m blinded by what they surmise.They mesmerize; they mesmerize.Extraordinary off-springs,Like new exotic samplings,Shown with Dagon's unique offerings,They're my blessings; They're my blessingsSoon there dawned an epiphany;Daughters of our love's symphony,Scintillas of our harmony.True synchrony! True synchrony!We shared moments evanescent,When they flourished luminescent.Now where fishes float florescent,Is their descent, is their descent.My heart was lilt in their gaze,Wilts now in their absence and blazeDeprived of their love, is to fazeAs in a daze, as in a daze. Emptiness is all fills my core.My soul burns with hunger once more.My daughters, I long to adore,Come to the shore! Come to the shore!Vashti Quiroz-Vega […]